Stretcher having recessed bed



June 19, 1962 E. E. BOURGRAF ETA L 3,039,1

STRETCHER HAVING RECESSED BED 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 7,1959

HTTOE/VEXQ June 19, 1962 E. E. BQURGRAF ETAL 3, 9

STRETCHER HAVING RECESSED BED 3 Sheets-Shae 2 Filed April 7, 1959 INVENTORS- 5 W H T TOf/VE Y5.

June 1962 E. E. BOURGRAF ETAL 3,039,119

STRETCHER HAVING RECESSED BED 3 Shets-Sheet 3 Filed April 7, 1959 I ENTORS. f-

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'ilnited rates Fatent 3,039,119 STRETCHER HAVING RECESEEEB BED Elroy E. Bonrgraf, 332 N. Washington, Greenfield, Ohio, and Richard H. Fernean, 8% Broadway, Washington Court House, Ohio Filed Apr. 7, 1959, tier. No. 894,629 3 (Ilairns. (Cl. -82) This invention relates to a stretcher and more particularly to a stretcher having as principal components thereof at least two panels hinged with respect to each other whereby a patient can be disposed in a reclining or upright seated position.

It has been an objective of the invention to provide a stretcher which has dual application to patients who may, on the one hand, be required to be transported in a reclining position, or, on the other hand, who may be required to be transported in a seated position. In cardiac cases it is many times quite important that the patient be seated. In general, however, as a matter of comfort, most patients would prefer to be in seated position rather than lying down while they are being transported. To meet these conditions, the inventors have found that it is necessary to have a stretcher upon which a patient may be conveniently slid from a bed or ground level. Additionally, when the patient is seated in an upright position it is important that the patient and cot occupy as little vertical space as possible so that an ambulance or like carrying vehicle need not be provided with an extraordinary amount of head room. Still further it is advisable that it be convenient to shift the position of a patient between a reclining to an upright seated attitude.

It has been an objective of the invention to fulfill theserequirements of practice by providing a stretcher comprising a frame supported above ground level by casters, at least a back and seat panel hinged to the frame in such a manner that the panels, when lying flat, are flush with the frame to facilitate the placing of the patient on the stretcher; and when angulated with respect to each other to provide a seat, the seat panel being dropped as close to the supporting surface as possible to minimize the vertical space occupied by the combination of patient and stretcher.

It has been another objective of the invention to provide a stretcher and chair combination of the type described above in which the back panel is pivoted intermediate its ends and the seat panel is suspended by links to said frame in such a manner that the weight of the occupant in a reclining position facilitates the shifting of the stretcher to an upright position. Conversely an occupant when seated can shift his weight by leaning back against the pivoted back panel and assist the shifting of the stretcher to a fiat position. Thus, with the aid of the patient shifting his weight, the stretcher design permits the shifting of the stretcher between the flat position and the seated position with only minimum effort on the part of the attendant being required.

It has been still another objective of the invention to provide a stretcher and chair combination of the type described above in which the frame supporting the back and seat panels is mounted on casters and in which the seat panel is recessed to permit the dropping of the seat panel below the upper level of the casters without having the seat panel obstruct the operation of the casters.

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It has been another objective of the invention to provide a locking adjustment lever operably connected to the back panel through which the back panel may be selectively set in one of a plurality of positions. The locking adjustment includes a pin cooperating with one of a plurality of apertures and a spring directly and positively acting upon the pin to seat the pin firmly in an aperture. The positive spring biasing is important for the effective weight of the patient is supported solely by the pin when there is any unbalance between the back and seat panels.

These and other objectives of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view showing the combination in a reclined position;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view showing the device in a position intermediate reclining and upright;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section of an adjustment lever.

It will be understood from the description of the invention that the structural frame work only of the device has been illustrated and that when the device is in operation it will be equipped with suitable padding (one section three inch foam rubber or polyether for example) to cover the frame work so that a patient will enjoy maximum comfort. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, the padding has been omitted for it forms no part of the invention.

Referring particularly to FIG. 1, the stretcher is supported principally by an oval-shaped frame 9 supported on two pairs of casters 10. The frame 9 is constructed from an elongated U-shaped member 11 and a shorter U-shaped member 12, the shorter member having its legs 13 telescoping within the longer U-shaped member. A clamping nut 14 mounted on the elongated U-shaped member cooperates with a ring (not shown) on the telescoping legs 13 to prevent the shorter U-shaped member from being withdrawn further than the extended position as shown in broken lines in FIG. 1. A seat panel 15 and a back panel 16 are supported by the frame 9. The seat panel is pivotally connected as at 17 to links '18, the links being pivoted at their upper ends 19 to fittings 2 0 fixed to the frame 9. The rear portion of the seat panel 15 is connected by links 22 which are pivoted at the lower ends 23 thereof to the seat panel 15 and at the upper ends 24 thereof to fittings 25 fixed to the frame 9. It should be noted that the links 22 are longer than the links 18 so that when the seat panel 15 is in the position shown in FIG. 1, the seat panel 15 has an upward angle of inclination thereby bringing the hips of the patient to the lowermost position on the stretcher.

The back panel 16 is hinged to the seat panel by means of a transverse pintle 30. The hinge connection is formed at each side by a hinge leaf 31 fixed to each side of the back panel and pivoted to the pintle 30 and a cooperating hinge leaf 32 fixed to each side of the seat panel and pivoted to the pintle 30. The back panel is pivoted on a transverse tube 33 which is fixed in fittings 34 on the 3 frame. The connection of the transverse tube 33 to the fittings 34 is best illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 7.

An adjustable telescoping brace 36 is pivotally connected as at 37 to the top of the back panel 16 and is pivotally connected at its lower end 38 to a transverse member 39 fixed in fittings 4b, the fittings 40 in turn being fixed to the frame 9. The brace 36 comprises an upper tube 41 into which telescopes a lower tube 42. The lower tube is provided with stop holes 43 which cooperate with a stud (illustrated in detail in FIG. 8) at the end 44 of a lever 45. The lever 45 is pivoted at 46 to a fitting 47 fixed to the upper tube 41.

The fitting 47 has a bore 48 through which passes a head 50 at one end thereof to engage the stop holes 43 in the lower tube 42. The other end of the pin is threaded to receive a nut 51 to hold the pin in engagement with the lower end of the lever 45. The bore 48 is provided with a shoulder 52. A compression spring 53 is located between the shoulder 52 and the head 50 of the pin so as to urge the pin positively into engagement with the stop holes 43.

A hole 54 in the opposite side of the fitting is formed during the formation of the bore 48 and permits the passage of the pin 49 and spring 53 during the assembly of the unit.

The seat panel is formed by a U-shaped tubular member 60 having a plurality of transverse tubular supports 61 which are interconnected by a plurality of longitudinal bed tubes 62. The U-shaped member 60 is deformed at 63 to form recesses 64 immediately adjacent the forward casters upon which the frame 9 is supported. A U- shaped stop 65 is fixed on the end of tubular member 60 and prevents the forward sliding of a three inch thick foam pad which is normally positioned on top of the seat and back panels.

The back panel 16 is formed by the U-shaped member 70 which is provided with transverse tubular supports 71 and intersecting longitudinal bed tube 72. Because of the manner in which the back panel 16 is pivoted to the frame, it is, in every position, out of the way of a rear pair of casters 10.

The construction of the stretcher is completed by pivotally mounted side rails 76 which can be swung out of the way to a broken line position as illustrated in FIG. 5 or can be fixed in an upright position as shown in full lines in FIG. 5 by means of a spring loaded pin 77 which is engageable with the fitting 34 to which the back panel is pivoted.

For a description of the operation let it be assumed that the stretcher is to be used to pick up a reclining cardiac patient. The stretcher would be brought into a position adjoining the patient and side rails 76 dropped to the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 5. The patient would be slid onto the bed formed by the seat panel and back panel '16 (with the pad between the patient and panels). In this reclined position the patient could be carried out to an ambulance and rolled in by means of the casters 10. However the attendants may find it advisable to position the patient in an upright seated attitude. In this event the attendant would pivot the lever 45 to swing its pin 49 out of engagement of the lowermost stop hole 43 which has maintained the panels in their reclined position. When the stud is removed from the aperture 43 the weight of the patient which is concentrated approximately at the location of the hinge pintle 30 will cause the seat panel and back panel to angulate with respect to each other through the intermediate position shown in FIG. 6 to the upright position shown in FIG. 1. In this position the lever 45 may be released so that spring means, not shown, will return the stud to the uppermost stop hole 43 thereby locking the stretcher in the upright position of FIG. 1.

It may be necessary to return the patient to a reclining position as for example when the patient is about to be removed from the ambulance or shifted from the stretcher to a bed. This operation is effected by actuating lever 45 to withdraw pin 49 from its stop hole 43. The patient, by leaning back against the back panel 16 will shift his weight toward the rearward side of pivot rod 33 thus facilitating the return of the back panel to the reclining position. Thus by making the back panel portion between pivot rod 33 and the hinge pintle 30 short as compared to the length of the back panel rearward of the pivot rod 33, a good balance between the weight of the upper portion and lower portion of a patients body about hinge rod 33 as a fulcrum is attained. A shift of the patients position in either directionupright or reclinedis a simple one handed operation for an attendant.

It will be appreciated from an inspection of FIG. 1 that even though the seat panel has been dropped to its lowermost position, the casters it) are not obstructed by the U-shaped member 60 which extends about the periphery of the seat panel. The longitudinal bed tubes 62 are located a suflicient distance inwardly of the casters so that they do not interfere with the normal operation of the casters.

It will also be apparent from FIG. 1 that the depth of the recess 64 provided by the deformation 63 of the member 60 is minimized by the particular linkage system which permits an upward angle of inclination of the seat panel when it is disposed in its lowermost position. A second advantage attending the angle of inclination of the seat member is that the patient will be more comfortable in a seat which is upwardly inclined than a seat which is horizontal.

It will also be appreciated that by the use of a plurality of adjustment holes or apertures 43 the angle formed between the seat panel and back panel may be varied to permit optimum positioning of the patient.

While there has been disclosed in the above description, what is deemed to be the most practical and efficient embodiment of the invention, it should be well understood that the invention is not limited to such embodiment as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the present invention as comprehended within the scope of the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cot and chair combination comprising, an elongated, substantially rectangular horizontal generally planar frame, casters for engaging a surface and supporting said frame a short distance above said surface, an elongated bed normally lying substantially in the plane of said frame, said bed being transversely hinged intermediate the ends thereof to form at least a back panel and a seat panel, means for mounting said panels to said frame to swing said back panel upwardly while simultaneously dropping said seat panel below the plane of said frame and below the upper extremity of said casters, and means forming a recess in at least a portion of said seat panel adjacent said casters to permit unobstructed operation of said casters when said seat panel is dropped to its lowermost position.

2. A cot and chair combination comprising, an elongated, substantially rectangular, horizontal generally planar frame, casters for engaging a surface and supporting said frame a short distance above said surface, an elongated bed normally lying substantially in the plane or" said frame, said bed being transversely hinged intermediate the ends thereof to form at least a back panel and a seat panel, two pairs of links connecting the forward and rearward ends of said seat panel to said frame and means intermediate the ends of said back panel for pivotally mounting said back panel to said frame, said links suspending said seat panel below said frame when said back panel is pivoted to elevated position.

3. A cot and chair combination comprising, an elongated, substantially rectangular, horizontal, generally planar frame, casters for engaging a surface, said casters connected to and supporting said frame a short distance 3,039, 1 1 9 5 above said surface, an elongated bed normally lying sub- References Cited in the file of this patent stantially in the plane of said frame, said bed being transversely hinged intermediate the ends thereof to form at UNITED ES PATENTS least a back panel and a seat panel, at least one p ir f 1,303,416 Tidyrnan May 13, 1919 links connecting said seat panel to said frame, aid links 5 2,293,045 Bun-tin June 4, 1940 being pivoted on coincident axes to s i fr me to Swing ,231 035 13 11 A r. 28, 1942 between a horizontal position and a downwardly directed 2 281,209 smith 'Apr' 2 1942 generally vertical position wher in a Seat Panel is 2 534 91 M June 22 1954 pended from said pair of lin below Said frame, and 2,694,437 Glaser n Nov 16 1954 means intermediate the ends of said back panel for piv- 10 otally mounting said back panel to said frame. 2747919 Ffimeau et a1 May 1956 

